


The Commune

by MatthewHowlerZPD



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24307939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatthewHowlerZPD/pseuds/MatthewHowlerZPD
Summary: Co-Created and co-written by Owningsuperset7 on Deviantart. Since he doesn't have an AO3 account I thought I'd mention it here.
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1:

**Author's Note:**

> Co-Created and co-written by Owningsuperset7 on Deviantart. Since he doesn't have an AO3 account I thought I'd mention it here.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the night sky, as heavy rain pattered against the windshield of the car, which when coupled with the sound of the howling wind, was almost hypnotic. The high beams only managed to cut so far into the darkness of the lonely side road, and the only other source of light were the unpredictable flashes of lightning, which were practically blinding.

“Carrots, we should stop somewhere, the weather's getting really bad. We shouldn't be driving in this.” Nick said to the Bunny behind the steering wheel.

“I've driven in much worse, Nick. I know what I'm doing.” Judy said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “Besides, stop where? There's nothing out here for miles! You want to sleep in the car? I sure don't!” 

“That wouldn't be a problem if you had stayed on the highway! But  _ noooo,  _ you  _ had _ to go and take the side roads.” Nick said sarcastically. “‘Less traffic’ you said. And now we're lost!”

Judy let a frustrated sigh out. “ _ We're not lost! _ I just… need to get my bearings!” 

Nick held up his phone. “Then let me use my GPS-”

“No! I don't need the GPS!” She cut him off. “ _ I know what I'm doing! _ ” 

Nick groaned in frustration and sat back in his seat. 

Their vacation had gone great, it was a much needed break away from everything. Things got complicated though when Judy had decided to be the one to drive them back home. Nick then made a joke about Judy's driving, which she seemed to take offense to, and tried to prove him wrong. And now here they were, totally lost on some godforsaken back road in the middle of a thunderstorm from hell. 

Nick simply stared ahead, looking for any road sign that could lead them back to civilization. There was another blinding flash of lightning ahead of them, striking a tree to their right. The tree began to collapse, right into the middle of the road. “ **_JUDY, LOOK OUT!_ ** ” Nick cried out almost immediately. 

Judy attempted to swerve to the left to avoid it, only to the car to hydroplane on the wet asphalt, causing her to lose control altogether. The car nearly did a complete 180 before sliding into the ditch. The next thing either of them knew, the car was rolling, the chaotic sound of glass breaking and metal giving way violently was the last thing they heard before before blacking out…

\-----

Nick awoke to ringing in his ears, the worst headache he ever had in his life, and a sharp pain in his left arm. Looking down at it, he discovered a large gash on his arm with a piece of broken glass sticking out from it. He gingerly touched it, causing a ripple of pain to jump up and down his arm. He stifled a yelp of pain, and waited for the sensation to stop. 

He heard a moaning sound next to him. He turned his head, and saw Judy, slumped over the armrest. His heart plummeted. “Judy?” 

No response. He reached over to shake her, but stopped himself, recalling his training; an injured mammal like this shouldn't be moved by anyone other than trained paramedics, or else there is a risk of aggravating their injuries. He leaned over and listened, and much to his relief, he heard her breathing, along with some involuntary moans. She was alive, but out cold. 

He needed to get help, but first he had to get out. He looked around, and saw the windows and windshield so badly damaged that it was nearly impossible to see through them. Large spiderweb-like cracks covered almost every inch of them. He pressed his seat belt release, but nothing happened. He tried again two more times, still no result.  _ Figures… _ he thought. He opened the glovebox and found the pocketknife he kept in there, and cut the seatbelt.

Folding the pocketknife, he noticed his service pistol, a .45, and it holster in the glovebox, and contemplated taking it. He didn't know why, but he felt like he would need it. Nursing his injured arm, he managed to strap the pistol and holster around his waist, and covered it with his shirt. 

He tried the passenger side door, but was jammed shut. He then tried busting the window out, but damaged as it was, it wouldn't give. He cursed and sat back in his seat. He then noticed that the windshield was significantly worse than the windows, with several small chunks missing. He figured that's where the glass shard in his arm came from. He gave it a kick with his foot, then another, and then with both feet. Finally, it gave way, leaving a hole big enough for him to get through. 

Nick looked at Judy again, unsure if she was still unconscious, and if it was a good idea to leave her like this. “Judy, I'm going to get help, okay?” He said, just in case she could hear him. Still no response. He really didn't want to leave her like this, but he knew he had to get help.

He crawled through the hole in the windshield, trying his best to avoid the sharp pieces of glass, though his injured arm made it somewhat difficult. Still, he managed to get through without getting cut up worse than he already was. 

The rain had slowed to a slow drizzle, and lightning flashes were few and far between now. Fortunately, the headlights somehow survived the crash and were still illuminated, providing some source of light. 

Nick looked around, and saw that the car had came to a stop right side up, and only a couple dozen feet from the road. Just as he was getting ready to wait to flag down someone, he remembered his cellphone. For a moment, relief washed over him as he pulled it out of his pocket, but quickly faded as he saw the device was nearly bent in half, it's screen looking like the windows of the wrecked car. 

“FUCK!” He yelled in frustration, and threw the broken phone on the ground. This caused a wave of pain from his arm, causing him to flinch and instinctively clutch it. He had to do something about it. Then he remembered the first aid kit Judy insisted on keeping in the trunk. 

Opening the trunk, he managed to find it easily, along with a headlamp they had put there just for emergencies like this. He put the headlamp on and turned it on, which provided a reliable source of light. In the first aid kit were some various bandages, gauze pads and wraps, and basic tools. But before bandaging the wound, he would have to remove the piece of glass from his arm. Stuffing a clean rag in his mouth to bite down on, he firmly gripped the the glass shard and counted to three. 

_ One… two… th...three!  _

With a swift motion, he yanked glass out, causing a cascade of fiery pain in his arm. He screamed, but the sound was muffled by the rag in his mouth. Holding a gauze pad to the wound, he breathed deeply, slowly, trying his best to calm himself, and waited for the pain to stop. Eventually, the intense burning sensation faded, but didn't disappear completely. Carefully, he wrapped the wound with a gauze wrap, and flexed his arm to make sure it still worked. Despite some minor pain from it, it still worked. He examined the piece of glass, and discovered that it was wasn't very big, and it must've only been a centimeter deep in his arm, only resulting in a flesh wound. He took an aspirin from the medical kit to help with the pain, and put the small bottle in his pocket.

Suddenly, the headlights on the car flickered, and then went out altogether. Nick began to smell something weird, an electric-like smell. And then he noticed black smoke coming from the front of the car. It took a moment for him to connect the dots, but when he did, panic set in;  _ The car is burning, and Judy's still inside! _

He rushed over to the driver's side door and pulled on the handle, only for it to come off in his paw. He began to pound on the window desperately, before remembering his pistol. Taking it out of the holster, he gripped it by the barrel and used the handle to strike the window repeatedly, which eventually shattered under his desperate attacks. He brushed away as much as the glass as he could before reaching in and cutting Judy's seatbelt, only for her to start coming to her senses. 

“N-nick? What happened? Where am-”

Her question was cut short when he attempted to pull her out of the car, only for her to cry out in pain. Nick saw her left leg bent at an angle that he was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to. He knew it would probably be very painful to pull her out of the car, but there was no way in hell that he was leaving her to burn to death. 

“I'm sorry, Judy!” He said quickly, and started to pull her out again. She yelped and cried in protest until he managed to get her out of the car, and got her to a safe distance before carefully setting her down on the ground. He quickly recovered the first aid kit from near the car, which was now was burning rapidly, and darted back to Judy just as the fuel tank exploded, engulfing the entire car. He explained what had happened to her as best as he could, while examining her for any more injuries. Aside from her broken leg, and some minor cuts and bruises, she was okay. 

As Judy watched the car burn, she realized that Nick had just saved her life. She sat there breathless for a bit before speaking up. “Nick…” she panted. “Y-you…” She found it difficult to speak.

“You’re welcome.” He replied. “Is your phone ok? Mine’s busted up.”

“Let me check.” She pulled it out of her pocket, and sure enough the screen was as busted up as Nick’s. “Crap.” she said. All her photos from their recent vacation were on her phone, but more importantly this made her unable to call for help. 

Nick looked around, thinking, before he looked back at Judy's leg. The break was at the shinbone, it would've been relatively easy to set. “Hang on, I'll be right back.” He said, and walked into the forest for a moment, and came back with a few good-sized sticks. 

He slowly, carefully positioned Judy's broken leg, and proceeded to make a improvised splint out of the sticks and extra gauze wraps from the first aid kit. “I learned how to do this when I was in the scouts.” He explained while working on it. “This should work well enough until we get some help.” Once he was done, gave Judy some of the aspirin to help with the pain. It wasn't much, but it was the best he had. 

It then occurred to Nick that not a single car had passed this entire time, which was very worrying. He weighed his options. Either he could wait by the road with Judy until someone drove by, which could be a while, and with no guarantee that they'd stop, or he could try to go out and find some help. But then he realized that would mean leaving Judy behind in this injured state… or would it? He could be able to carry her, she wasn't that heavy… 

“Nick, what are you doing?” Judy winced as Nick knelt down and picked her up. 

“I'm not going to leave you here. We're going to get out of this together.” He said as he positioned her on his shoulders, being mindful of her injured leg. He then began to walk along the side of the road, the light of his headlamp cutting through the darkness ahead of them. 

\-------

Nick walked for what seemed like over an hour. Not a single car had passed, nor had he seen any road signs besides mile markers. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. Judy had been mostly quiet, aside some soft whimpers of pain that she was obviously trying to suppress. Nick wished he could do more to help her. 

He stopped to rest for a moment, before something in the woods caught his eye. A light. But not the solid glow of anything electronic, it was a faint flickering, shimmering glow. Nick carefully walked towards it, and as he did, he noticed that it was moving. He followed it, and began to hear voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he knew that this was their chance to get help. He called out, and the voices and the movement of the light, now obviously some sort of flame, stopped.

“H-help! Please!” Nick cried out again, and started walking to the light as fast as he could. It kept on getting brighter and brighter, and Nick began to notice several figures of various sizes illuminated in it's glow. The one holding the torch was a panther, wearing some sort of loincloth instead of regular clothes. There were several others too, but Nick struggled to make out their faces. “Please, we've been in an accident! We need help!” Nick pleaded.

As he managed to walk into the light, he could make out a jackal and a hyena, both clad in similar attire to the panther. Under normal circumstances, Nick would've questioned it, but 

these were not normal circumstances. These mammals were the only ones he had seen out here, and were probably his and Judy's only chance at getting help. 

The three glanced at each other, seeming to take note of Judy on Nick's shoulders, the former of whom was visibly nervous, before the panther spoke: “Follow us.”

A wave of relief flowed over Nick, and he began to walk with them. Judy wanted to protest, but she knew, just as Nick did, that these strange mammals were their only shot at help. 

Nick followed them deeper into the woods. The rain had completely stopped, and the clouds had thinned enough to allow a few rays of moonlight to shine through. Eventually, there was a faint glow on the horizon, in the direction they were heading. Nick and Judy could make out the silhouettes of structures and, as they got closer, mammals of various sizes. They heard voices too, speaking in a language unknown to either of them.

When they finally reached the source, they discovered it was a bonfire, situated in the center of a circle of huts. There were various mammals spread about, all wearing similar clothing as the three mammals that were guiding them, either simply talking in that strange language, or glaring at them. Judy, still sitting on Nick's shoulders, noticed something strange; Not a single prey mammal was among them. There were various predator mammals of many different species, but not a single prey mammal. Judy thought that very strange, but just as she was about to say something, the group leading Nick stopped. A single mammal got up from the fire, a crude stone machete at his hip and began to walk towards the group, eyeing Nick and Judy. He was a Bengal fox, and wearing some sort of headdress or crown, a golden band embroidered with a large ruby in the center wrapped around his head. He also wore a cloak that appeared to be made of a brown fur, likely fake.

“And who might this be?” The Bengal fox said to the panther. 

“These two claim that they were in an accident of sorts, and require help.” The panther explained.

“I see…” The Bengal fox said, and turned his attention to Nick. “My name is Nathaniel, I am the…  _ leader  _ of this little Commune.” He explained, giving a quick yet smooth bow. “And you are?”

“Nicholas Wilde, and this is Judy Hopps. She's got a broken leg, and needs help. I'm not really hurt.” Nick explained. 

“Hmm…” Nathaniel glared intently at the bunny sitting on top of Nick's shoulders, so intently that Judy's was obviously getting very uncomfortable. “I see.” Nathaniel said finally. “We'll give her to our medicine-mammal to set her leg and see if they can give her something for the pain. In the meantime, why don't you come and rest? You must be exhausted!” 

Nick shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I'm not leaving her side. Not at least I'm sure she's going to be alright.” 

A flicker of confusion briefly appeared on Nathaniel's face, before he smiled and nodded. 

There was something about that smile that sent shivers down Judy's spine. The look in his eyes… but just as the was about to vocalize her discomfort, Nathaniel started to guide Nick to a small hut, which she presumed belonged to the medicine-mammal. Carrying Judy, he entered the wooden structure, where a badger sat on a woven mat on the floor, his fur covered in geometric patterns. Nathaniel barked something to him in that unfamiliar language Nick and Judy heard earlier and the badger nodded, grabbing some plants from wooden containers and began putting them into a wooden bowl. He then took a rock and smashed the plants up into a fine powder. As Nick laid Judy down on another mat, the badger took a wooden canteen and poured water into it. The liquid mixed with the powder and turned a deep blue color. He then handed the bowl to Judy, who took it reluctantly.

“Here. Drink.” he said.

“Um...okay?” She put the bowl up to her mouth and drunk the substance inside, while Nick just stood there, watching like a hawk. As grateful as he was for their help, he wasn't going to leave Judy alone, at least not like this.

As Judy finished the bowl, Nathaniel put his paw on Nick’s shoulder. “You must be exhausted. Please, come! We have some food and drink, and a place to rest. She is in good paws.” He nodded over to Judy, who was seemingly beginning to relax as the pain was dulled. 

Nick shook his head. “I need to make sure she'll be alright. I can't leave her. But… thank you for the offer. Maybe once we've both rested, we'll take you up on it.”

Nathaniel's smile faded slightly. “Oh… I see…” Taking his paw off Nick's shoulder, he gave Judy another look, before turning on his heel and leaving. Nick sat down next to Judy and watched as the badger re-set Judy's leg with a much better splint than Nick had made. The herbal sedative seemed to be taking full effect, as Judy was obviously getting groggy. 

After he was done with Judy, the medicine-mammal turned his attention to fixing Nick's wounds. Besides the mean cut on his arm, all the other injuries were superficial. Once he was finished, Nick curled up around Judy protectively, who had already dozed off, and closed his eyes. His last thoughts before he drifted off to sleep were of how lucky they were to be safe.

**_But were they really…?_ **


	2. Chapter 2

Nick opened his eyes slowly, the sunlight leaking through the cracks in the hut, his arms, legs and tail still feeling like he had been sleeping in a washing machine set on it's spin cycle. For a moment, he didn't remember where he was, and almost panicked. But then the events of the previous night came back to him. He remembered Judy being next to him, and reached out for her. Much to his relief, she was still beside him, still asleep. And then, he heard a voice he recalled from the night before. 

"Ah, you're awake!" 

Nick turned to see Nathaniel, the Bengal Fox, walking into the hut. Instinctively, he wrapped his limbs tighter around Judy, but Nathaniel didn't seem to notice.

"I trust you slept well?" He asked.

The best Nick could muster was a nod.

"Fantastic!" Nathaniel beamed. "You must be starving. Come, we'll get you some food."

Nick looked down at Judy, hesitant to leave her. 

As if he could read his mind, Nathaniel piped up, "Don't worry, she will be well looked after, I promise."

Nick looked at Nathaniel, and back at Judy. His 20 years as a conmammal on the streets had led him to coming across his fair share of strange mammals and groups, and this felt like one of them. There was something about them that just felt suspicious…

“She stays with me.”

“Well she’s obviously in no state to come along so for the sake of her health you shou-”

He stood there with a surprised look on his face as Nick lifted her up, holding the injured bunny in his arms. Nick then exited the hut, still holding Judy in his arms. 

“Come on, let’s go.”

Nathaniel wordlessly followed.

——————

The three mammals approached a roaring bonfire in the middle of the huts, where everyone else was sitting around, eating something Nick wasn’t able to identify. There was also a smell unlike anything Nick had ever encountered. It was… oddly enticing. 

The three approached a log with empty space on it. “Come, sit down. I’ll go get you some food." Nathaniel gestured at the log "And umm… Judy, was it? We brought you a gift.” He grabbed something from a nearby log, and placed them by the empty space. They were makeshift crutches, made of sticks and rope.

“Thanks…?” She said sleepily, having just woken up. 

Nick looked around at the crowd of mammals, sitting on logs around the flame. There were a variety of different species, but something was odd. Besides Judy, there wasn’t a single prey mammal to be found, only predators. He did a double take, only to get the exact same result.

“Carrots, don’t you find it weird there are only predators in this camp?” He whispered to her.

“What?” She replied, obviously still waking up. 

Before Nick could say another word Nathanial walked up to the pair. “Here you are. Only the finest meals to our guests.” Nick could tell that something about Nathaniel didn't seem to… genuine, but decided not to say anything and just go along with it for now. Nathanial handed Nick a wooden platter, upon it rested several slices of some sort of meat he didn’t recognize along with a little bowl of rice and mug of water. It smelled enticing, but there was something odd about its look. It looked oddly shiny, with a brown outer layer and pink core, and there were unusual little grey flecks scattered around. Picking up a knife and cutting into it, juices spilled out, more juices. 

“Is it supposed to look like this?” Nick said, obviously unsure.

“Yes, I am positive.” Nathaniel replied.

Nick hesitated to bring the meat to his muzzle for a moment but as he heard the gurgling and churning of his hungry stomach he knew he had to eat something. Gulping down any nervousness he put the piece into his mouth. Upon it hitting his tongue he felt a sensation like no other. The meat was much more flavorful than he expected, and also more tender than chewy. It was… almost magical.

Almost immediately after he swallowed, he sliced off another piece and ate that one as well, savoring every second. Judy looked over at him as she was munching on a wild onion and couldn’t help but smile. 

Nathanial laughed. “Good to see you’re enjoying yourself.” He said.

\---------------------

Nick brought the last spoonful of rice to his mouth and washed it down with a swig of water. Overall, a very tasty meal in his opinion, especially whatever that meat was. Judy was also finishing up her platter nearby. He had given a small sliver to her earlier, as she enjoyed eating as much meat as her body could handle, which admittedly wasn’t a lot. He stood up, and motioned to the bunny who was still sitting on the log. 

“Come on Carrots, let’s get back to the hut.”

“Ok!” She slid the wooden tray to the side and grabbed her new crutches. Nick began walking in the general direction to the structure where he slept, with Judy following close behind. He tried to move slowly, so that Judy could keep up. He approached the right end of the circle, where they slept, and his mind suddenly went blank. All the huts looked exactly the same, and he had forgotten the exact one where he slept.

“Which one was it…” He mumbled under his breath, as he attempted to recall the information. He thought about for a bit. Was it the leftmost, middle, or rightmost one? He dug into his memory, and thought he recalled entering the middle hut, so he slid under the flap and into the hut. Judy followed. After getting up and looking around...

He was absolutely revolted at what he saw.


End file.
